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No progress on any buildings but after much searching around for fencing options I went for these from Scale Model Scenery. 1st time i've ordered and good service. They said they were busy as only 2 of them can work in their building to dispatch but it was here in a couple of days. Lots of useful extras on the site so will be going back, especially as my rough calculation on fencing is about 40 cm short and need 1 more pack.
First off I made a short section on my river test. Need to get some better tape to stick the netting to before cutting it.
The using some mig weathering painted up all the posts and have glued them in place down the track side. Once done I then was able to ballast up the sidings and I can start working on all the line and siding edging as well as look at making one of the gates up. I did however realise I have not left enough room for the ground frame in the yard so need to have a think about how else I can show that.

Not hard to find. Found a telegraph article but needed to sign up to read it all so is straight from him on C4 news.
https://www.channel4.com/news/coronavirus-risk-to-young-people-like-a-weeks-worth-of-driving-prof-sir-david-spiegelhalter

Another day of pottering an the shell of another building started. I really need to look think about finishing a building at some point.
I did make a mistake. The shape of the station was based on Lapford as I said in the previous post, but having put the template on, cut the windows and doors out I then added the brick paper to the exposed card side which promptly switches the doors and windows round. Do I mind, not really as it was the shape I was after rather than an exact replica. I need to have a look back at Lapford pictures to work out where chimney stacks need to be before adding the roof but that is for another day
Along with that need to think about gutters and down pipes, signage and whether there will be any form of canopy along with what is the right type of fencing for the back of the platforms.

Well a week of 1/2 days (almost) means a good amount of time in the shed. Lesson learned today is have the door partially open from 9:30 means the temp only climbed to 90 today rather than the 105 it has hit a couple of times this week.
The main station has a set of windows now. Simply marked out in powerpoint, glued to thin card and then lots of very slow cutting out. Time to start thinking about whether to have interiors now.,
Over on Norton Rd 2 things have happened. The ballast went down. Simple mix of 2 fine grades of brown with a 3:1 ration for the darker brown. I did have 1 point that got a bit gummed up but managed to free it. I think some glue had run down to the point motor below but a bit of oil down the pin seems to have fixed that.
As that is done the platform is now being fixed in placed so a little bit of tidying up will be needed to have the ballast flush to the edge.
In other news, the station building will be based on Lapford. I can't remember which thread in here a n gauge model appeared but when I looked on google it has a fair sized building for what is not the longest platform. Again using powerpoint i knocked up the template and it will be low relief rather than a full depth building. Fingers crossed will be able to get the main pieces cut tomorrow.

So i think the mock up came out OK. Plonked it here to show what I am after but obviously the grass will vary in depth to accommodate the sidings. At the end the path will continue on to the backscene as well as a 90% spur to the right to a crossing. probably will throw in a tree or 2.
So with 3 cuts on hands, 2 cuts to the head and a pair of sore knees it can only mean for now I am done with wiring. The signals are working but I did cut the optics to short in the Exkon ground signals so will see if I can get a new head unit and redo to get the clarity. I was toying with ballasting but I think for the next day or 2 its time to play trains. The good news is the kids looked at the new control panel and think it now makes sense, but only time will tell.

So baring a point motor that seems to have shorted the electrics are working and everything can run. I have been holding off ballasting Norton Rd thinking I should have the basics off all the buildings but I think I am at the point it is time to find a couple of hours and ballast it. That will mean I can start thinking about the track boundaries, fencing and paths.
Alongside that i have been watching various video's on making canals and have created a test piece to plat with. Whilst it looks quite dark when I left the shed, the water colour was drying much lighter. Aim of this is to look at
How to edge the bank
Reeds at the edge where needed
Path way across the bank, grass edge between the water and the path itself.
But for now the kids are off to bed which means I can watch the next 2 episodes of House.

Why am I still awake. Woke up at 5 with hay fever and for some reason i can't sleep so may as well post this. Apart from the 3 fiddle yard point switches power is restored now. Lots of tidying up to do still and it the new switch set-up needs testing by the kids to see if they can make it out now everything is labelled.
I did get a bit confused though as the points for Norton rd just would not fire and 2 of the points would try and fire when I connected the common feed. Turns out the switch they were connected to had a short and I wonder of this is why one of the point motors burnt out recently. Luckily if you look back 1 post I had a Blue Peter here is one I prepared earlier moment as there was a spare so swapped that in a voila, they all work. I've added in the CDU as well which has made the action much better.
Any way, time for something before bed and fingers crossed not wake up so early.

So much for just focusing on the electrics. I got distracted and started on the main station building for Dinfield. So far so good and next job is to fit the windows. As for the structure itself the single story on the left is the parcels office and storage area. Once the windows are sorted then the question is how much detail goes in each building. In the station building my thinking is the ticket office and staff areas will be on the left as you look at the building whilst on the right will be waiting rooms and toilets. As for upstairs, no idea yet. Its the early 80's so may boarded up.
The start of the re-wire is passing the eldest son test. he thinks its more logical. So far the power to the tracks at Norton road is working and tomorrow will be try and get the point motors for that side working again. The set of wires hanging loose is for and the 6 switches to the left have no where to go yet as the point motors are yet to be installed.

Tell Phil he missed the most obvious - Big Big Train & East Coast Racer. Just which bit of all 15 mins and 47 seconds would be the challenge
Gordon, that's a fabulously evil idea - Song Endings. By the way, have you been able to stretch your legs by the way with a bag of sticks yet even if it was 9 holes on your own?

Might be easier then just to create a spotify playlist and just share the audio off the device you Zoom from.
You just need a piece of paper then with how long the intro's are. Pretty sure when I used to be able to go the pub quiz at Great Expectations in Reading that is exactly how he did the intro's given they often slipped in to the main part of the song.
In fact , thanks as this is one round of my quiz questions for later this week sorted.

Gordon
Do you have access to all the tracks as files or is the plan to use Spotify or some other streaming service?
If you do have the files, then I suggest using Audacity. Its free and a good tool to much around with tracks including cutting clips out and pasting to a single file, though its been so long since I did this I can't quite remember how.
https://www.audacityteam.org/
https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/tutorial_editing_an_existing_file.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1kCC4ITHhs
The I think then all you need to do is the share screen trick in Zoom and when you play the file, everyone will hear it. Obviously put gaps in so you know the start/stop points for each.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd9KY4tpzYY
Hope this helps

So sent the eldest in for a play as he was at a loose end and he likes the passenger side of things and got a very good critique of things. In a nutshell my wiring needs more labeling as it only really worked because I knew where everything was, it needs track plans to go with the labels and it would make more sense for all switches to be in one place.
You know what, he's spot on, especially as the signalling is yet to be added. As a result I have removed all the switches and create 2 things in the picture below
- The back piece is a 4 inch strip that has room for all 42 switches to be mounted. I will mount the wire from the switches behind so I can wire the connectors without having to grovel under the layout.
- I have then added a removable piece so I have a work bench when I need it. That way the door end of the layout can be redone later on to be a lift out section so I don't have to duck under.